North Central College celebrates its faculty's work
Community members are invited to hear faculty members discuss books they've written, present findings of their scholarly research and talk about partnerships with local organizations during an academic conference at North Central College in Naperville.
“A Promising Start: Excellence in Scholarship” continues the college's celebration of its sesquicentennial and takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 4, at various campus locations. Retiring North Central College President Harold R. Wilde will deliver the keynote address, “Confessions of a Non-Teacher/Scholar,” at 2 p.m. in the theater at Meiley-Swallow Hall, 31 S. Ellsworth St.
David Gray, assistant professor of accounting, and Lisa Long, professor of English, are co-coordinators of the event.
“This conference provides an opportunity for North Central College's faculty to showcase the impressive scholarly achievements of our colleagues,” Gray said.
The conference opens at 10 a.m. in Smith Hall on the second floor of Old Main, 30 N. Brainard St., with a welcome by R. Devadoss Pandian, vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty. Faculty members will host presentations of their scholarly work from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. in various classrooms at Goldspohn Hall, 31 N. Loomis St.
The conference continues with poster sessions highlighting faculty members' academic pursuits from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. in Smith Hall at Old Main, followed by additional presentations from 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. in various classrooms at Goldspohn Hall.
In addition to Wilde's keynote address, an exhibit showcasing works by fine arts faculty will be from 1:45 to 3:30 p.m. in the Meiley-Swallow Hall Gallery.
The presentation “Rising up from Indian Country: The Battle of Fort Dearborn and the Birth of Chicago” will examine a new book by Ann Durkin Keating, the college's Dr. C. Frederick Toenniges Professor of History.
The presentation “Farm Kids: A Retrospective” will feature Zachary Michael Jack, associate professor of English, discussing his new book, “Farm Kids.”
The presentation “DuPage Children's Museum: Where Researchers Come Out To Play!” will feature Nicole R. Rivera, visiting assistant professor of psychology, and Patricia Schacht, assistant professor of psychology.
They will describe how a partnership between the college and the Naperville-based museum is creating opportunities for psychology students to apply classroom lessons by observing children's play behaviors.
Faculty play a prominent role in the North Central College experience. In addition to teaching courses, they often collaborate with students on research, provide academic and career guidance as advisers to students and lend their time and experience to extracurricular activities and organizations.
“We have become a first-rate faculty comprised not only of committed teachers, but also of accomplished scholars and artists — many of whom are producing work on par with that of their peers at Research I institutions and bringing that deep expertise back to the campus and, most significantly, to the classroom,” Long said.
Visit northcentralcollege.edu for information about parking, a complete listing of conference presentations and schedule of events for “A Promising Start: Excellence in Scholarship.”